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rob59404 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: State University with unheard of econ department
Undergrad GPA: 3.99
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA:
GRE: 760 Q 640 V 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Cal I-III(A,A,A), Linear Algebra(A),Probabilty/stat(A), ODE(A), Probability theory(A), math stats, intro analysis/proofs
Econ Courses: Intro micro/macro, intermediate micro/macro, development, adv. development, trade, history of thought, econometrics, graduate econometrics, graduate micro and macro. All A's
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: thesis advisor, department chair, other econ professor
Research Experience: Senior thesis
Teaching Experience: Some math and econ tutoring
Research Interests: Growth, political economy, applied micro
SOP: Standard
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Missouri($$), kentucky($$), Oregon($$), Colorado(no $), UW(no $), Virginia, GMU, Notre Dame ($$$ Attending)
Waitlists:
Rejections: NYU, BC, UIUC, Rochester
Pending: OSU (implicit rejection at this point)
What would you have done differently?
1) More math earlier
2) Should have got a math professor to write letter of recommendation
3) Get an 800Q

EconDev137 2010:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Quantitative Economics. & B.A. Political Science
Undergrad GPA: 3.36
GRE: 770Q 570V 4.5 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III, (AP, AP, A) Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (D), Probability (B+)
Econ Courses: Intro Micro (C), Intro Macro (C), Elementary Econometrics (A), Econometrics (A), Advanced Econometrics (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro(A+), Economic Growth (A), Economic Development (B+), Environmental Economics (B+), International Monetary Policy (A)
Grad Courses: Advanced Micro (A), Advanced Macro (A-)
Letters of Recommendation: All very good, from top 10.
Research Experience: Work at a public policy think tank. Thesis in Political Science.
Research Interests: Applied micro, development
Statement of purpose: Way better than average
Other: LORs are the most vital part of your application. Do not overlook the importance of building quality relationships with a few profs. However don't use this as an excuse to be a kissa$$.
RESULTS:
PhD Accepts: Arizona (tuition waiver and assistantship for years 2-5), Purdue (nothing official, but presumed tuition plus 18k), Colorado-Boulder (waitlisted for $),
PhD Waitlists: Boston College (Decent Chance of admit, but won't know until after deadlines for other schools), OSU (acceptance not probable)
PhD Rejections: Duke, Maryland, Penn State, Vanderbilt and Indiana,
Masters Accepts: Michigan, Boston University, Tornoto
Masters Rejections: Tufts (really?)
Masters Pending: UBC
What would you have done differently? The most glaring thing would be not to have gotten a D in real analysis, I think I could have pulled vanderbilt without that. Other than that I think I had a pretty solid plan. Take the most useful classes you can, do as well as you can and spend your free time having fun. I think people on TM get too worked up about not having an 800Q or a 4.0 at the expense of living life.

takethemoneyandrun 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Mid-ranked liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.7/4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 770Q/700V/5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III (A/B/A-), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability Theory (B+), Mathematical Statistics (B+), ODEs (A-), PDEs (A), Advanced Calculus (A), Real Analysis (A), Topology (IP), Complex Analysis (IP)
Econ Courses : Intermediate Micro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A-), Intro to Econometrics (B), Labor Economics (A), Senior honors thesis (A)
Other courses: Nothing of value
Letters of Recommendation: Three econ professors (PhDs from top 30 programs) who advised me on research papers that turned out pretty well and one statistics professor with whom I did summer research. They are all very nice, helpful people and I get along well with them.
Research Experience: Two econ term papers and a senior honors thesis that I am proud of; one co-authored statistics publication based on summer research.
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 sections of introductory statistics and 2 sections of introductory economics.
Research Interests: Economics of labor, health, aging, and education.
Statement of purpose: I made it clear that I want to become an academic economist, discussing my math preparation and research interests.
Concerns: Low GRE Q and limited undergrad econ background with very shaky grades.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Virginia(wl-$), Texas(wl-$), Washington-Seattle($$), Indiana($$), UC-Davis($$), UC-Irvine($$), Rice($$), Colorado($0), Maryland AREC($$), Cornell AEM($0), Oregon($$)
Rejections: Brown, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WUSTL
What would you have done differently? I would have applied to more schools in the 15-30 range. I didn't expect to be accepted to at least half of the programs that admitted me and was biased towards lower-ranked schools. I have heard this over and over, but it's worth repeating: The MC of sending out an additional application is extremely low; apply to any and every school that you think matches your research interests!

Mpianatra 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 econ program
Undergrad GPA: 3.56/4
Type of Grad: MS in same major/university
Grad GPA: none at time of application
GRE: 780/580/5.5
Math Courses: Calc I/II (A-), Real Analysis (in progress during app), Calc III (A+), Linear Algebra (A), Ord. Diff. Eq. (A) [last three courses taken as non-degree student at state school w/o econ phd]
Econ Courses: Intro Micro/Macro (A), Inter Micro (B+), Inter Macro (A), Labor Economics (B), Income Distribution (A), Developing Country Labor Markets (A-), Applied Econometrics (A-), Econ Dev't (A-), Public Finance (A-), Economic Data (B), Grad Micro Theory I (in progress), Grad Econ of Education (in progress)
Other Courses: Intro Stats (A-)
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis Adviser- known for a long time (pretty strong), Second Thesis Adviser-mostly knew from a course (positive but probably pretty generic), RA prof (also probably pretty generic)
Research Experience: Master's thesis but hadn't done much for it at time of application
Teaching Experience: Just short of teaching credential
Research Interests: Development, Political Economy, Labor
SOP: Nothing special. Run of the mill about why I like econ, why I was qualified, and why I liked the school.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: American ($?), BU (no $), CUNY (Fellowship), Fordham ($?), Colorado ($$$), UI-Chicago ($?), Washington (no $), Wisconsin ($$)
Waitlists: BC
Rejections: Columbia, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, George Washington, Minnesota, Michigan, NYU, Northwestern, UCLA, Maryland, UNC, Notre Dame, USC, Texas,
Attending: Wisconsin
What would you have done differently?
What I wouldn't have done differently was apply to so many schools. I had a lot of reach schools on my list and all it takes is one of them to accept you. Some rejections from very lowly-ranked schools with some acceptances from relatively high-ranked so it can be hard to predict. Obviously getting better grades would always help but I'm very satisfied with the overall results.

walt526 2010: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Political Science from UC Davis (started at a well-regarded LAC in the Midwest)
Undergrad GPA: 3.50/4.00 (combined)
Type of Grad: MA in Economics from lower-tier public university
Grad GPA: 3.92
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 6.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-III (high school with AP, plus C from Fall 1998), Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Statistics (A), Math for Economists (A), Intro to Formal Math (A-), Numerical Analysis (A), Axiomatic Set Theory (B+), Real Analysis (in process), Mathematical Statistics MA-Level (in process), Operations Research (Spring 2010), Applied Linear Algebra (Spring 2010)
Econ Courses (MA-level): Advanced Micro Theory (A-), Advanced Macro Theory (A), US Economic History (A), Cost-Benefit Analysis (A), Applied Econometric Analysis (in process), Econometric Theory (in process)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Economics (B+ from spring 2000), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (D), Public Microeconomic Theory (A+), Economics of Development (A-), US Economic History (A-), World Economic History (A), Economics of Education (A), Econometrics (A), History of Economic Thought (Spring 2010)
Political Science Courses:
- High School: AP American Government, AP Comparative Government
- LAC: International Relations (A-), American Political Thought (B+), Central European Politics (A), Russian Politics (A-), Soviet and Russian Foreign Policy (A)
- UC Davis: Systematic Political Science (A-), The Legislative Process (A-), The Politics of Interdependence (A-), National Security Policy (A), Intro to Judicial Politics (A), Judicial Politics: First Amendment (A), Judicial Politics: Equality (A-), Seminar in American Political Behavior (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (1 WUSTL, 1 UC Davis ARE, 1 Stanford)
Research Experience:
- Research assistant to LAC political science professor (developing new course in environmental international politics)
- Research assistant to UC Davis political science professor (judicial politics--read a sample Supreme Court decisions and classified the argument type of each paragraph)
- Masters Thesis: Does State Support for Public Four-Year Universities Decrease as Minority Enrollment Increases?
Teaching Experience: TA to Intermediate Micro
Research Interests: My research interests lie along the intersection of political science and economics. I am interested in Public Choice (Law and Economics and Institutional Factors), Industrial Organization, and Miscellaneous Applied Microecomics
Statement of Purpose: Should be strong
Concerns: The D in Intermediate Macro came in a semester wherein I received incompletes in my other courses (personal issues) in winter quarter of 2004). I completed the two lower-division courses that I needed to fulfill the BA in Political Science at community college (statistics and history of western civilization). No topology, possibly weak advanced math grades.
Other: Have a career certificate in Accounting from a community college, worked for 2 years as an accounting administrator and 3 years as a purchasing agent for an electrical contractor.
Applying to: UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Stanford, Michigan, UPenn Wharton (Applied Econ), WUSTL, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Texas, UIUC, Maryland, Virginia, UC Davis, George Mason, Vanderbilt, Rochester, Michigan State, Georgetown, UC Irvine, UMass-Amherst, Arizona, Colorado, Syracuse, Kentucky (might whittle down the list some)

Saksalainen 2010:
Institution: Uppsala
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Mar 9
Notified through: postal
Funding: ^^
Comments: "highly qualified applicants... budgetary reasons... sorry"

HopefulFutureEcon 2010:
Institution: University of Colorado-Boulder
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: waitlist
Notification date: 3/10/10
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: No
Comments: I just missed the cut-off for funding, but do have an outside shot. I hear they use a combination of GRE scores (verbal and Q) for funding.
Institution: Berkeley
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/2/10
Notified through: Email/then website a few days later
Posted on GF: No
Comments:meh.....
Institution: UC-Davis
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/3/10
Notified through: Email/Website
Posted on GF: No
Comments:meh.....so much for Econ History there.
Institution: Pitt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/9/10
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: No
Comments:meh...program not really compatible with my research interests so no worries
Institution: Maryland
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date:
Notified through: the fact they sent out all their offers and their grad coordinator confirmed it
Posted on GF: No
Comments: meh....

wajihc 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 National University
Undergrad GPA: Below 3.0 with double majors in ECON & PSCI
Type of Grad: Northeastern University
Grad GPA: 3.5
GRE: 770 Q, 520 V
Math Courses: Calc I, II (B+), III (B+); Math & Stats for Economists (A-), Differential Equations (audited)
Grad Econ Courses: Micro (B), Macro (A), IO (B-), Ph.D. level Econometrics (A-), US Economic History (A)
Ugrad Econ Courses: Intermediate Microeconomics (F then B), Intermediate Macroeconomics (B-), Intro to Stats (A), US Economic History Seminar (B), International Trade (C+)
Other Courses:
Letters: Ugrad Professor with Ph.D. from Iowa, Associate Professor in Ph.D.
econometrics with Ph.D. from Indiana, Grad Professor in econometrics with Ph.D.
from UC Berkeley
Research: Ph.D. econometrics course paper on sources of multifactor productivity
Teaching: None
Research Interests: Economic growth and development
SOP: Discussed my journey to get to economics, what I'm doing to augment
my math skills, and personal motivation from ethnic background
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NC State (no $), GWU (no $), American (no $), CUNY (no $)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Indiana, Iowa State, CO-Boulder, Syracuse, Notre Dame, FL Int'l, Brandeis
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
If I were to do ugrad all over, I would have minored in math and accounting, and gotten better grades in undergrad. Assuming my ugrad mistakes, in grad school, I would have taken Real Analysis.
Final call: I deferred NC State, GWU, American, and CUNY. I got tired of being a broker in NYC, and will start at American this coming January.

unsueno0414 2010:
Institution: UCSC
Program: International Economics Phd
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: 2/24/2010
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: no
Comments: funding!

Tommie Hopeful 2010:
Institution: University Wisconsin - APEC
Program: Masters in Applied Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/25
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/20
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Institution: University of Minnesota - APEC
Program: Masters in Applied Economics
Decision: Admit
Funding: No Decision
Notification date: 3/3
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: No
Comments: I go to school down the street.